Cancer Nurses and Physicians Join Forces for Chemotherapy Safety
The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) have collaborated to develop the first national standards for the safe administration of chemotherapy drugs, focused on adults in the ambulatory setting.
More than 60 percent of people diagnosed with cancer receive chemotherapy at some point during treatment, and patient safety is a top priority for oncology professionals. However, few national standards for patient safety have been developed.
The 31 standards issued by ONS and ASCO cover a range of issues related to chemotherapy.
- Staff education and training
- Chemotherapy ordering, preparation, and administration
- Patient education and informed consent
- Assessing how patients respond to treatment
- Monitoring toxicity of treatments.
ASCO/ONS Standards
The standards were published in the September 28 issue of ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and will appear in the November issue of ONS's Oncology Nursing Forum.